Skibidi Toilet, created by Alexey Gerasimov
Controversial YouTube series Skibidi Toilet is about to go mainstream, with Transformers director Michael Bay looking to develop the viral sensation into a film and TV franchise.
Bay and former Paramount president Adam Goodman have high hopes for the series, with Goodman telling Variety that Skibidi Toilet “could be the next Transformers or could be a Marvel universe.”
What Is ‘Skibidi Toilet’?
Skibidi Toilet is an animated series created by Georgian animator Alexey Gerasimov, who found success after posting an 11-second YouTube short featuring a singing head poking out of a toilet.
That first short was simple, but striking; a grotesque toilet man, singing remixed lyrics from a Biser King song, sampled from a TikTok meme.
At first, Gerasimov was inspired by recurring nightmares of “heads coming out of toilets,” and set out to battle his subconscious in the virtual world, animating his fears using Valve’s Source Filmmaker.
After his first Skibidi short went viral, Gerasimov developed the concept into a narrative, an all-consuming war between two cyborgian factions, with the two sides desperately constructing more powerful bodies and weapons, often using the mechanical body parts of fallen soldiers.
Posting each episode on his YouTube channel, DaFuq!?Boom!, Gerasimov’s series features men with speakers, cameras and television screens for faces fighting against the titular singing toilets, with plenty of background clues and easter eggs for fans to dissect.
The series has proved surprisingly popular with children, which sparked criticism from many concerned parents, startled by what they see onscreen.
The animation even inspired something of a moral panic, with concerns about the videos manifesting into a condition dubbed “Skibidi Toilet syndrome,” which is now considered something of a meme.
How Did ‘Skibidi Toilet’ Become So Popular?
While the chaotic series appears almost incomprehensible to outsiders, Skibidi Toilet has proved wildly popular with Gen Alpha, with the characters spreading through YouTube and Roblox, as recognizable to children as mainstream Disney icons like Iron Man and Elsa.
The widespread appeal of the videos might be attributed to their lack of dialogue, distinctive aesthetic and Gerasimov’s consistent posting schedule, as well as the introduction of YouTube Shorts.
Skibidi Toilet now has 76 episodes and has been viewed more than 775 million times on YouTube, while footage of the series has been endlessly remixed and posted on other platforms and has inspired a deluge of fan art and animations.
The series seems steeped in meme culture, with its absurd imagery and catchy, repetitive song, along with inventive fight sequences that sometimes resemble video game footage.
As strange as it seems, Skibidi Toilet’s never-ending war is broadly similar to the conflict of Michael Bay’s Transformers films, which Gerasimov cites as a direct inspiration.
Now, Bay is looking to turn Gerasimov’s story into a blockbuster franchise.
Skibidi Toilet, it seems, has gone full circle.
